Internal-combustion engine



8. LG. KNOX.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN,15v 1917.

1 266 Patented June 20, 1922.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR A TTORNEYS S. L. G. KNOX.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED JAN-15. 1911.

1 4:20, 2 6 6. Patented June 20, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Fig 2,

WI'PNESSES: INVENTOR %Z/ A Z Z Qf/Yi zoac A'ITORNEYB s. L. G. KNOX.INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN 15, 1917. 1,420,266. Patented June 20, 1922.

. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- Fjgb.

WITNESSES:

SAMUEL L. G, KNOX. OF SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 20, 1922.

Application filed'January 15, 1917. Serial No. 142,529.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I. SAMiim L. G. I\NOX, a citizen of the llnited States.residing at San Rafael. in the county of Marin and State of California.have invented new and useful Improvement in lnternal-Combustion Engines,of which the following is a specification. I

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide means forcharging the cylinders. of an internal combustion engine witl'i'asufiicient volume of either air or combustible mixture to obtain apressure'in the cylinders during the suction stroke of the pistons,which will be considerably in excess of atmospheric pressure; andparticularly to provide a novel compressing arrangement therefor,whereby the existing structure of the engine is largely utilized andvolumetric loss of the incoming charges may be reduced to a minimum.Further objects will hereinafter appear.

The invention consists of the parts and the construction and combinationof parts as hereinafter more fully described. and claimed, havingreference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Y Fig. 1 is a sideelevation of the engine.

Fig. 2 is a vertical, central section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. v

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the lower nd of one of thecylinders.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on line 4--4: of Fig. 3, showing thevalve head in elevation.

Fig. 5 is a section taken through the regu lating valve.

Referring to the drawings in detail, A and B indicate the cylinders ofan internal combustion engine, which, in this instance, is operated onthe Diesel principle. Each cylinder is provided with an inlet valve 2,an exhaust valve 3, and a piston 1, and each piston is secured to apiston-rod 5 which in turn is connected with a cross-head 6connecting-rod 7 and acrank shaft 8 the cranks shown being positionedparallel to permit the pistons to reciprocate in unison when the enginis operated, as will hereinafter be described.

Secured to the lower end of each cylinder is a valve head, generallyindicated at C, and secured centrally in each valve head is a stufiingbox 9 through which the piston rod extends. Formed in each valve head,exteriorly of the stufiin'g box. are two sets of ports 10 and 11 whichwill respectively be known as the inlet and outlet ports. Suitablysecured, as at 12, in the upper end of the valve head is a seat casting13 in'which is formed an inlet port 1* and an outlet port 15; the port14 being in register with the inlet port 10 and the port 15 with theport 11. Adapted to form a closure for the port 14 is a valve 16 whichis guided by means of pins 17, and normally held against its seat bymeans of a plurality of springs, such as shown at 18. In a like mannerpositioned with relation to port 15 is a valve 19 which is normally heldand guided with relation to the seat by means of springs 20 and guidepins 21.' The main inlet port 10 is in this instance open to theatmosphere; that is, air is admitted around the stufling box and thepiston rod 5, while the main outlet port 11 is closed at its lower endto form a chamber which is connected, by means of a manifold 22. withthe inlet valves 2 of the cylinders A and B. as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the main inlet andexhaust valves 2 and 3 are mounted at one end of each cylindcr, while asecond set-.o'f'inlet and outlet valves is mounted in'the valve head Cat the opposite end of each cylinder. This arrangement permits eachcylinder to be divided into a firing chamber 25 and a compressingchamber 26 and, therefore, permits the charges of the two compressingchambers to be by-passed through the manifold to the firing chamber ofeither the cylinder A or the cylinder B.

The pistons 4 employed are of the usual construction, with the exceptionthat the upper ends are cored out to form radially disposed ports 27through which the compressed charges are adapted to circulate more orless durlng the operatlon of the engine for the purpose of maintainingthe pistons as cool as possible. The length of each piston isconsiderable and to reduce volumetric losses to the smallest percentagepossible, it will be seen that each valve head C is cylindrical in shapeand extended to fit interiorly of each piston when these assume theirlowermost positions; the exterior diameter of each valve head beingapproximately the interior diameter of the pistons. An annular chamber30 is, therefore. formed between the lower end of each cylinder and theexterior of each valve head to receive the lower ends of the pistons, inthis manner permitting practically all the air to he expelled andreducing volumetric losses to a minimum.

In general practice, where internal combustion engines of differenttypes are employed, whether they are two-cycle, fourcycle, Diesel, orotherwise, it is practically impossible to produce atmosphericpressuremanner: The two pistons moving upwardly in' unison will permitair to enter the compressing chambers 26 through the ports 10 and 14 andreverse movement of the pistons will cause said charges to be compressedand by-passed through the annular ports 11 and 15 to the manifold '22,where it is delivered to the firing chamber of one cylinder or the otherthrough the inlet valves 2. The present engine operates on. thefour-cycle Diesel principle and only one inlet valve will open,'or, inother words, one cylinder will receive the compressed charges from thetwo cylinders during one revolution of the cycle, while the othercylinder will receivethe compressed charges from the two cylindersduring the second revolution of the cycle of operation.

It can readily be seen that a pressure almost double atmospheric isobtained and that the general power output of the engine is therebygreatly increased. The charges admitted, as previously described, maybe.

either air or an explosive mixture, but as no carburetor is hereemployed it is obvious that air only is handled, as far as thecompressors are concerned. It is, therefore, necessary to provide a fuelnozzle 35 for each cylinder through which a suitable fuel isautomatically sprayed during each firing stroke of the piston; ignitionbeing secured by the high heat'of compression in the usual manner.

For the purpose of permitting a, great flexibility. as far as power isconcerned, when running overloaded or undcrloaded, it is desirable toregulate the amount of pressure of the by-passed charges. This may beaccomplished, for instance, by mechanically controlling the operation ofthe valves 17 and 19 or by providing a pressure regulating valve, suchas indicated at 45. Vt'ith the engine operating under maximum load itisobvious that all the air from the two (0111- pressing units" should beby-passed to eat-h individual tiring chamber. The pressure of the airthus delivered in actual practice will then reach an approximatepressure of lifteen pounds bygage.

If it is desired to reduce the power of the engine, it is only necessaryto set the pressure-regulating valve 45 to a point where it willautomatically open when any desired pressure is obtained in the manifold22. For instance, it might be desirable to reduce the pressure to fivepounds. This is easily accomplished by setting the valve 45 toautomatically open under this pressure and it can, therefore, be seenthat all excess air would be automatically discharged at this pointwhile the remaining volume of the two compressed charges would pass intothe firing chambers in the cylinders each in its alternate turn. Thegeneral range of power may be greatly increased or decreased by means ofa governor or as the operator may see fit and the efliciency of theengine as a whole may accordingly be maintained.

\Vhile the compressing attachment is here shown as em) o'yed inconnection with a Diesel engine, it is obvious that it might be employedin connection with an ordinary gas would be air; if the engine operateslike I an ordinary automobile engine, the gas yvould be a mixture of airand vaporized uel.

I wish it understood that various changes in form, proportions and minordetails of construction may be resorted to within the scope of theappended claims and that I do not wish to limit myself to the specificdc- 5 sign and constructionhere shown.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is- 1. In a supercharging four-stroke cycle internalcombustion engine, the combination of a cylinder, a cylinder head in oneend thereof. a valve head in the opposite end thereof. inlet and outletvalves carried by the valve head, a trunk piston in the cylinder adaptedto be telescoped over the valve head, a piston rod connected to thepiston and passing through a stuffing box in the valve head, a crosshead connected to the picston rod, and a manifold connected to the valvehead for leading compressed gas directly from thevalve head to thecylinder head, the piston acting as a gas compressor to complete twopumping strokes for each explosion stroke of the engine.

2. In a supercharging four-stroke cycle internal combustion engine, thecombination of two cylinders, a cylinder head in one end of eachcylinder, a valve in the opposite side of each cylinder and projectinginto it, a trunk piston in each cylinder adapted to be telescoped overthe respective valve head, inlet and outlet valves carried by each valvehead, and a manifold connected to each valve head for deliveringdirectly gas compressed by both pistons into one cylinder at a time, thepiston acting as a gas compressor to complete two pumping strokes foreach explosion stroke of the engine.

3. The combination with a two-cylinder internal combustion engine of acylinder head secured on one end of each cylinder, a valve head securedon the opposite end of each cylinder said valve heads being circular incross section and projecting upwardly into the cylinders, a trunk pistonin each cylinder, said trunk pistons having an interior diametersufficiently large to permit the same to move telescopewise over thevalve heads and expel approximately all the air during compression, saidpistons adapted to reciprocate in unison, a stalling box in each valvehead, a rod secured to each piston extending through each stuffing box,an inlet and an outlet valve carried by each valve head, an exhaust andan inlet valve in each cylinder head and a manifold having a passageformed therein which also acts as a receiver connecting the outletvalves with the inlet valves in the opposite end of each cylinder.

t. In a supercharging four-stroke cycle internal combustion engine, acylinder, a cylin- (ler head on one end of the cylinder, a valve head onthe other end of the cylinder and projecting into it, a trunk pistonmovable in the cylinder and telescoping over the valve head, an inletand an outlet valve in the valve head, and means for leading compressedgas directly from the valve head to the cylinder head, the piston actingas a gas compressor to complete two pumping strokes for each explosionstroke of the engine.

5. The combination with a two-cylinder internal combustion engine of acyl1nder head secured on one end of each cyhnder, an

exhaust and an inlet valve in each cylinder head, a valve head securedon the opposite end of each cylinder said valve heads being circular incross section and projecting upwardly into the cylinders, a'trunk pistonin each cylinder, said trunk pistons having an interior diametersufliciently large to permit the same tov move telescopewise over thevalve heads and expel approximately all the air during compression, saidpistons adapted to reciprocate in unison, a stuliing box in each valvehead, a rod secured to each piston extending through each stufling box,a pair of annular ports in each valve head,'one exteriorly of the otherand surrounding the stutfing box, an annular disk valve adapted to openand close each port in unison with the movement of the pistons and amanifold having apassage formed therein WlllClltl/ISO acts as a receiverconnecting one of the ports with the inlet valves in the opposite endsof the cylinders. a I

6. The combination with a two-cylinder internal combustion engine of acylinder head secured on one end of each cylinder, an exhaust and aninlet valve in each cylinder.

head, a valve head secured on the opposite end of each cylinder, apiston in each cylinder, said pistons adapted to reciprocate in unison,a stufiing box in each valve head, a rod secured to each pistonextending through each stuffing box, a pair of annular ports in eachvalve head, one exteriorly of the other and surrounding the stuffingbox, an annular disk valve adapted to open and close each port in unisonwith the movement of the pistons, a manifold having a passage formedtherein which also acts as a receiver connecting one of the ports withthe inlet valves in the opposite ends of the cylinders, and a pressureregulating valve connected with the manifold adapted to regulate andmaintain a predetermined pressure in the manifold.

7 The combination with a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine, of avalve head secured on the inner end of each cylinder,

' said valve heads being circular in cross section and projectingupwardly into the cylinders, a trunk piston in each cylinder, said trunkpistons having an interior diameter sufliciently large to permit thesame to move telescopewise over the valve heads and expel approximatelyall the air during compression, dividing each cylinder into a firingchamber anda compressing chamber, means for admitting gas to eacicompressing chamber, and means for bypassing the compressed charges oftwo compressing chambers to one firing chamber.

' 8. The combination with a two-cylinder internal combustion engine of avalve head secured on the inner end of each cylinder, said valve headsbeing circular in cross section and projecting upwardly into the cylin--ders, a trunk piston in each cylinder, said trunk pistonshaving aninterior diameter sufliciently large to permit the same to movetelescopewise over the valve heads and expel approximately all the airduring coilipression, dividing each cylinder into a firing chamber and acompression chamber, said pistons adapted to reciprocate in unison, aninlet and an outlet port formed in each valve head, a valve adapted toopen "and close each port, an inlet valve for each firing chamber and amanifold connecting the outlet ports with the inlet valves ,whichcommunicate with the firing chambers.

9. The combination with a two-cylinder internal combustion engine ofavalve head secured on the inner end of each cylinder, said valve headsbeing circular in cross section and projecting upwardly into thecylinders, a trunk piston in each cylinder, said trunk pistons having aninterior diameter sufliciently large to permit the same to movetelescopewise over thevalve heads and expel approximately all the airduring compression, dividing eachcylinder into a firing chamber and acomp izessing chamber, said pistons adapted to reciprocate in unison, astuffing box in each valve head, a rod secured to each piston extendingthrough each studing'box, a pair of annular ports formed in each valvehead, one exteriorly of the other and surrounding the stuffing box, anannular disk valve adapted to open and close each port, an inlet valvefor each firing chamber and a manifold acting as a receiver connected atone end with one port in each valve head and at the opposite end withthe inlet valves.

10. The combination with a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine, ofa valve head secured on the inner end of each cylinder, a piston in eachcylinder dividing each cylinder into a firing chamber and a compressingchamber, a stufii'ng box in each valve head, a rod secured to eachpiston extending througheach stutting box, a pair of annular portsformed in each valve head, one exteriorly of the other and surroundingthe stuffing box, an annular disk valve adapted to open and close eachport, a manifold acting as a receiver connected atone end with one portin each valve head and at the opposite end with the firing chamber ofeach cylinder, and a pressure regulating valve on the manifold.

11. The combination with a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine, ofa valve head secured on the inner end of each cylinder, said valveheadsbeing circular in cross section and projecting upwardly into thecylin= ders, a trunk piston in each'cylinder, said trunk pistons havingan interior diameter sufficiently large to permit the same to movetelescopewise over the valve heads and expel approximately all the airduring compression, dividing each cylinder into a firing chamber and acompressing chamber, an in-i let and an outlet port formed in each valvehead. a valve adapted to open 'andclosc each port, a manifold connectingthe outlet ports with the firing chambers, and a pressure regulatingvalve on the manifold.

12. The combination with a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine, ofa valvc head secured on the inner end of each cylinder, said valve headsbeing circular in cross section and projecting upwardly into thecylinders, a trunk piston in each cylinder, said trunk pistons having aninterior diameter sufliciently large to permit the same to movetelescopewise over the valve heads and expel approximately all the airduring compression, dividing each cylinder into a firing chamber and acompressing chamber, an inlet and an'outlet port formed in each valvehead, a valve adapted to open and close each port, a manifold connectingthe outlet ports with the firing chambers, and means for regulating thepressure in the manifold.

13. The combination with a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine, ofa valve head secured on the inner end of each cylinder, said valveheads-being circular in cross section andprojecting upwardly into thecylinders, aitriink piston in each cylinder, said trunk pistons havingan interior-diameter 'sutlicientlylarge to permit the same to movetelescopewise over the valve heads and expel approximately all the airduring compression, dividing each cylinder into a firing chamber and acompressingchamber, means for admitting gas to each compressing chamber,means fo i by-passing the compressed charges of two compressing chambersto one tiring chamber, and means for regulating the pressure of theby-passed charges.

14. The combination with a inulti-cylinder internal combustion engine,of a valve head secured onthe inner end of each cylinder, said valveheads being circular in cross section and projecting upwardly into thecylinders, a trunk piston in each cylinder, said trunk pistons having aninterior diameter sufficiently large to permit the same to movetelescopewise over the valve heads and expel approximately all the airduring compression, dividing each cylinder into a firing chamber and acompressing chamber, means for admitting gas to each compressing chamber, means for bypassing the compressed charges of two compressingchambers to one firing chamber, means for regulating the pressure of theby-passed charges, and means for automatically maintaining the pressureafter regulation.

15. In a supercharging four stroke cycle internal combustion engine, thecombination of acylinder, a cylinder head at one end of the cylinder, avalve head at the opposite end of the cylinder, inlet and outlet valvescarried by the valve head, a manifold for leading compressed gasdirectly from the 31.30

valve head to the cylinder head, and a piston In testimony whereof Ihave luu'vuuto set rod passing: through the valve head and voumy haml mthe prvsem-v of l\\o suhsvrihmg nected to a cross-head, the plstoumukuu: wituvssos.

two pumping strokes for each explosion in SAMUEL L. (L KNOX. 5 thecylinder, to supply o the cylinder 8. \Yitxmssos:

double charge at substantlally twivv :mnow A. Kmmslcur,

pheric pressure. J. C. NICORA.

